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October 13, 2007

Fun With Numbers

David Ortiz has reached base in 16 of 18 plate appearances in four postseason games, while Manny Ramirez is 13-for-18. Their combined OBP is .806.

Ortiz has made just six outs in the last eight games (including the final four of the regular season)! In 24 post-season games (since 2004 ALCS 5), Ortiz is batting .433 (39-for-90), with 27 RBI, 24 runs scored, and 21 walks. This October, Ortiz is batting .777 (7-for-9) with two home runs and eight walks.

Manny is hitting .500 (5-for-10) with two homers, seven RBI, and eight walks. He has reached base in 11 of his last 12 plate appearances.

I've never seen anything like it. They're unbelievable. They're aggressive, they're patient, they're picking their spots ... Manny was 0-and-2 twice and was able to spit on those tough pitches and draw a walk. I asked him: "Are you just fouling balls off to mess around, or what?"

Five of Ramirez's eight walks this post-season began with an 0-2 count.

The tandem of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had their best combined post-season performance in 1928, logging 48 total bases with a .676 OBP in 34 plate appearances against St. Louis. With Cardinals pitchers challenging them all too often, the Hall of Fame duo slugged seven home runs in four games while drawing an equal number of walks. They combined to score 14 runs and drive in 13.

So far this post-season, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have combined for 41 total bases with a staggering .805 OBP in 36 plate appearances. The duo has hit fewer home runs (4), but has drawn more than twice as many walks (16), as Ruth and Gehrig in 1928. Ortiz and Ramirez have combined to score 12 runs and drive in 10 in four games against Angels and Indians pitching.